Maple Pecan Scones (Low Carb and Gluten-Free)

I am a Starbucks girl, through and through. I don’t go every day, but I do spend a fair bit of time there as I prefer their coffee over almost every other coffee shop. I have my Starbucks Gold card so that I can get my free drinks every so often and I even downloaded the Starbucks app to my new smartphone. It tells me how much money I have left on my card and it allows me to add more money at a moment’s notice. And here’s the crazy part – with the new scan codes, it can even take the place of the card itself! As long as I have my phone on me, I can always get my caffeine hit. I was in line behind someone the other day, doing that very thing, and I was astonished. Let’s just say this does nothing to cure me of my long-standing Starbucks addiction.

Back in the day, I was addicted to far more than the coffee at Starbucks. I was a huge fan of their baked goods as well. The apple fritters were a particular favourite, as were the maple pecan scones. Both items were so darn sweet, I would purchase one and munch on it in bits throughout the day, lest I make myself ill. But they did go beautifully with a cup of hot Starbucks coffee. These days, I stick to the coffee, with the occasional specialty drink made with whole milk and sugar-free syrup. For the most part, I can pass over the pastry case with nary a glance because it’s just not a part of my life any more. But sometimes, just sometimes, a girl just gets a craving. And if she happens to be a diabetic girl, she needs to take matters into her own hands.

I think one of the best parts of the maple pecan scones from Starbucks is the thick layer of maple-y glaze. So that was an important part for me to recreate here. To do so, I chose to use Swerve Confectionary. I’ve used a number of low carb, powdered sweetener products and this is by far my favourite. It clumps less than other powdered erythritols that I’ve used. And although there are some powdered xylitol products I like for other purposes, I find that the glazes they make stay “wet”. They don’t harden properly as they set, and so they proceed to sink into the baked good eventually. It tastes great, but it doesn’t give the appearance I want. Swerve Confectionary, on the other hand, acts a lot like powdered sugar. The glaze goes on wet, but then hardens nicely into a soft, sweet shell.

The Results: Move over, Starbucks! I’ve just replicated your scones to low carb, gluten free perfection! Okay, so I am not about to start roasting my own coffee beans at home and I will always be a loyal Starbucks customer. But now I won’t stand in front of your pastry case, staring longingly at the scones. These turned out so well, and as I’d hoped, the Swerve powdered erythritol was the perfect product to make that yummy maple glaze.

For the scones, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 325F. Whisk together almond flour, erythritol, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Stir in chopped pecans. Add egg, butter, cream, and maple extract, and stir until dough comes together.

Turn out dough onto parchment-lined baking sheet and shape by hand into a rough circle, 7 or 8 inches in diameter. Slice into 8 even wedges and separate carefully, then space evenly around the baking sheet. Bake 20, or until scones are firm and lightly browned. Keep an eye on the bottoms to make sure they don’t burn.

Remove from oven, transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

For the glaze, in small bowl, whisk together powdered erythritol, maple extract and heavy cream until smooth. Spread over cooled scones and let set, about 30 minutes.

Serves 8. Each serving has a total of 8g of carbs and 3.6 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 4.4 g.

Comments

I avoid the sweets case whenever I go to Starbucks to buy a bag of coffee, but yeah, I've seen the fritters there. I love apple fritters. I also love scones (but you already knew that). These look absolutely delicious. I Maple and pecan are made to go together.

A woman after my own heart! Our local Starbucks quit carrying the maple pecan scones for a time so I re-created my own too; though not a low carb or gluten free version. I was there today for the first time in a long time and they're back…and yes, I bought one but I won't do that often…not if I can now make them at home!

what a perfect scone!! You won't believe that I have oatmeal pecan scones in my oven this morning, and as I was putting them in thought maple would have been a great addition! Its nice to know that I think along the same terms as such a talented baker as you!

I made these for breakfast and made some changes that I wouldn't recommend other people doing, so I won't post them. Just follow the recipe, people!

Mine came out flat like cookies, but delicious cookies! Again, they only came out that way because of the changes I made. I've got to learn that baking with almond flour isn't like baking with regular flour and you just can't make whatever changes you feel like. Next time I'll follow the recipe! Oh, and my husband, who dislikes healthy baked goods, really liked these. Yay!

This recipe sounds like just what I was looking for! As for using maple syrup instead of maple extract… how much, any idea? I don’t have maple extract and don’t think our stores have anything but the imitation maple stuff… and I have plenty of actual maple syrup!!

Are you looking for it to be low carb, or just gluten-free? The maple syrup will add a lot of carbs, but you can do it. For the scones, I’d do 2 or 3 tbsp, and for the glaze, you can replace all of the liquid with maple syrup and get some great flavour.

Thanks so much for the reply! I was just wanting them to be gluten free, so this helps out a lot! I have some friends who are eliminating all grains from their diet, and I am going to try to cut out lots of grains and see if it will help me get off the extra postpartum weight I have been carrying for almost two years. so I have just been looking for a few baked goods that have no wheat.

Scones are my hands-down favorite baked good! Just made these and wasn't going to make the glaze as I usually don't like them glazed–but oh boy did they come out delish, and the glaze was perfection! Thanks for all your great recipes!

Carolyn…you. are. amazing. I would never ever guess these would be low carb. I need to go through your recipes and print a few to take with me to my Cali to make for my diabetic Grandmother who has a hard time eating what she should.

I made these today and they were WONDERFUL ! My husband and I are big fans of Starbuck’s maple nut scones, or we used to be until we went low carb. Now we don’t have to miss them anymore, because these taste just like them! I am very happy right now…

I just came across your website the other day now that I’ve decided to try a gluten free, sugar free life. SO glad you are on the Internet!! I made these this afternoon and they are very tasty! I have found my first go-to recipe for baked goods.
Thank you!!

Made these yesterday for breakfast today. YUM! I’ve made scones w/ almond flour before but these had a much better consistency – more cake like and dense than I was expecting. I froze them w/ parchment paper in between… hoping the glaze holds up in the freezer so I can enjoy them in the future! Thanks for another yummy recipe.

I have been meaning to make these for a while now and finally got around to it. They are wonderful! Mine don’t look as pretty as yours, but they take care of my scone and maple craving at once. This will be a recipe I will make many more times. Thank you!!

Speaking of Starbucks, one of my favorite hot beverages in the world is Starbucks Earl Grey Tea Latte. It is a mixture of freshly brewed Tazo Earl Grey Tea (with lavender), frothed milk, and sugar free vanilla syrup. However, I am going bankrupt at over $4 a pop feeding my addiction! Also, I am trying to banish sucralose from my diet. To start on my quest for more home made things, I now purchase bulk, loose Earl Grey tea with lavender from Adagio and make my own lattes at home using my AeroLatte milk frother. The missing item is home made sugar free vanilla syrup sweetened with erythritol (and stevia?). Have you come up with a homemade erythritol vanilla syrup? If so I would love for you to share the recipe! If not, are you willing to take a stab at it?

Hi Carolyn,
Just made these, haven’t tasted them yet but they look amazing. However my glaze ‘seized’, for lack of a better word. It doesn’t look smooth and glossy like yours, more pasty. Any ideas as to why that happened? Also, maybe I overlooked this but can these be frozen? Thank you!

These could easily be frozen, with or without glaze. Hmmm, though on the seizing. What kind of erythritol did you use? One trick I’ve used when my glaze has been too thick is to warm it in the microwave, then whisk quickly again to get everything to thin out. I wonder if that would help you?

thanks for the reply! i used confectioner’s swerve. (btw my low carbing mom and i loved them, they don’t taste dietetic at all) also i found it slightly too sweet, would using more cream next time thin it out possibly and make it less sweet?

I am truly a Starbucks girl…I work for them…looking at the pastry case still makes me sad as I am new to low carb…(due to prediabetes)…now I will have to try these…I have loved everything else that I have tried…

Thanks for the quick reply. If i can find blanched Almond Flour at the store today I will be making these for sure. I know I can buy it online, but have had a hard time finding it at a local chain store.

Just wondering. There is no such thing as maple extract here as far as I know. I do have sugar free maple syrup. What would I need to do to the recipe to incorporate that? A tablespoon of coconut flour with a 1/4 cup maple syrup? ideas?

I’d just use a few tbsp of syrup in the scones and only add coconut flour if you think it’s too wet. Then the glaze will be easy, just do syrup plus powdered Swerve and only add cream if it’s too thick.

I am sorry, but these are based on almond flour and there is not a great substitution. YOu might want to google coconut flour scones to see if you can find a similar recipe and then you can add in the maple flavouring.

I made these yesterday, they taste awesome. Im not real worried about sugar so I added a handful of dried cranberries. They were a bit crumbly, what can I add as a binder? I also baked them longer because I like them dry. These were just excellent! Thank you.

Off…the…charts. Just made them and it’s 102 degrees outside right now. Didn’t care I had to heat up my kitchen cuz I just needed these. Carolyn I’ve made about 10 of your recipes since discovering you a couple of months ago. All are great. These are so so so very good. Doubling the recipe next time so I can have plenty on hand in freezer for treats. Please don’t stop your experimenting. Grasshopper pie is next on my bake list.

I have also made several of your recipes. Thank you so much for your hard work. I craved these maple scones over the weekend, after making them for my husband last week. They are absolutely delicious. It’s wonderful to find gf, sf recipes that actually taste good. My second batch are in the oven smelling up my home. Thank you thank you thank you!

I made these yesterday and they were hard to resist. I did resist them because I’m not eating nuts right now, but my company loved them and didn’t know they were sugar free til I told them. They both raved how good they were. I’ll be making another batch in about 10 days!!

Just new to low carb. This is day 14 so though I’d treat myself with these yummy scones. I couldn’t find almond flour so used ground almonds from the home baking section. Is that the same. Just eating one now for breakie snd oh my god I’m in heaven. After 2 weeks of no biscuits, bread, cake these really hit the spot. Thanks so much.

I made the gingerbread scones a couple days ago added some macadamia nuts to them. So good!!! I think you have perfected the scone recipes. I will be making them all between now and Christmas! delicious!

I am Carolyn, a writer, runner, mother and diabetic. I am also the evil mastermind behind this blog. I live for food. Join me in my experiments in creating delicious low carb, gluten free recipes. Read more

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Nutritional Disclaimer

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program.
I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using Mastercook software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them.
I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.